5K for Kenya slated Saturday at Munny Sokol Park

Published: Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 11:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 11:43 p.m.

The Way Community Church in Northport will host the 10th annual 5K for Kenya Mission Run/Walk Tuscaloosa Track Club Grand Prix event at 8 a.m. Saturday at Munny Sokol Park's Old Colony Road entrance.

Proceeds will go to the Challenge Farm in Kitale, Kenya, and the Tenderfeet Education Center in Nairobi, Ken-ya, for food and supplies.

Maggie Raburn, co-director of the event and member of The Way Community Church, said the Challenge Farm takes kids who have resorted to or been subjected to crime off the streets. The farm provides the children with a place to live, food, education and church.

She said the education center is a day school, which sends buses to the slums to pick up children and bring them to the center for school and a meal.

“In Kenya, they have to pay to go to school, and most of them can't afford it,” Raburn said. “This is a chance for them to turn their lives around.”

Money from the registration fee goes directly to the farm and education center, Raburn said. Participants are asked to register the day of the event. The registration fee is $25, which includes a pancake breakfast and coffee donated by Starbucks at the Willow Pavilion after the race.

The male/female overall first-place winner will receive $150, second place will receive $100, and third place will receive $50. First place in the masters and grand masters categories will receive $50 each. Hand-beaded elephant keychains made in Kenya will be given as first-, second- and third-place prizes for each age group. The first 150 registrants will receive T-shirts, which display a zebra on the front drawn by a boy who was taken off the streets of Kenya in 2011 and placed at the farm.

New to the event this year is the Children's Challenge Run at 8:45 a.m., which is less than 1 mile. The registration fee is $10. Each participant will receive a beaded necklace made in Kenya and will have the opportunity to become pen pals with a child at the farm.

Raburn said she knows the 5K will be competing for attendance with the Alabama A-Day game and Easter events, but that she hopes those events will draw more people to the race from out of town.

“I thought this would be a good way to start off the weekend by having a good breakfast and Starbucks,” Raburn said.

<p>The Way Community Church in Northport will host the 10th annual 5K for Kenya Mission Run/Walk Tuscaloosa Track Club Grand Prix event at 8 a.m. Saturday at Munny Sokol Park's Old Colony Road entrance. </p><p>Proceeds will go to the Challenge Farm in Kitale, Kenya, and the Tenderfeet Education Center in Nairobi, Ken-ya, for food and supplies.</p><p>Maggie Raburn, co-director of the event and member of The Way Community Church, said the Challenge Farm takes kids who have resorted to or been subjected to crime off the streets. The farm provides the children with a place to live, food, education and church.</p><p>She said the education center is a day school, which sends buses to the slums to pick up children and bring them to the center for school and a meal. </p><p>“In Kenya, they have to pay to go to school, and most of them can't afford it,” Raburn said. “This is a chance for them to turn their lives around.”</p><p>Money from the registration fee goes directly to the farm and education center, Raburn said. Participants are asked to register the day of the event. The registration fee is $25, which includes a pancake breakfast and coffee donated by Starbucks at the Willow Pavilion after the race.</p><p>The male/female overall first-place winner will receive $150, second place will receive $100, and third place will receive $50. First place in the masters and grand masters categories will receive $50 each. Hand-beaded elephant keychains made in Kenya will be given as first-, second- and third-place prizes for each age group. The first 150 registrants will receive T-shirts, which display a zebra on the front drawn by a boy who was taken off the streets of Kenya in 2011 and placed at the farm.</p><p>New to the event this year is the Children's Challenge Run at 8:45 a.m., which is less than 1 mile. The registration fee is $10. Each participant will receive a beaded necklace made in Kenya and will have the opportunity to become pen pals with a child at the farm.</p><p>Raburn said she knows the 5K will be competing for attendance with the Alabama A-Day game and Easter events, but that she hopes those events will draw more people to the race from out of town.</p><p>“I thought this would be a good way to start off the weekend by having a good breakfast and Starbucks,” Raburn said.</p>